I'll Be Waiting No Matter What
by Akane Naomi
Summary: Every day, she's always there. She seems to be waiting for someone. Everyone notices a blond girl who comes to the coffee shop every morning, ordering the usual thing each day that passes by. Who is she waiting for?
1. The mysterious Girl

_I'll Be Waiting _

Destiny Islands, in the little coffee shop that morning, a certain blond girl always came, ordering the regular, and sitting around for hours either gazing or sighing. Not only did people begin to notice, so did the employees.

"Sigh" Riku began

Kairi looked at him confused "What's wrong with you today?"

He pointed at the blond girl "That's what's wrong with me today"

She looked at who he was pointing to and laughed "Her? Geez Riku, don't you already have enough girlfriends?"

"That's not exactly what I meant"

"Then what is it?"

He looked at the girl again "It seems weird…. … everyday, she comes here ordering the usual, and just sits around all sad"

"Is that a bad thing?" she asked beginning to think of what he was trying to say

"Not really, it's almost as if…..she's waiting for someone"

She nodded "I guess I see what you mean, but we'll find out one day, right now we should probably get back to work" she announced walking behind the counter and leaned down to wake someone up "I said we should probably get back to work!" she announced loudly at the brunette boy.

"AH! I'M AWAKE!" he shouted

"Good" she grinned walking away

……………………………

Later around Noon

"Sora, can you help me fill the orders for these customers?" Riku asked in a hurry getting ready to finish some errands.

He nodded and looked at the list "Weird, there's only two orders I have to do now" as he brought the coffee to the table noticing that instead of two people, there was only one. "um… this is your order right?" he asked wanting to make sure

She looked at him in surprised and nodded "Yes, thank you" giving him a sympathetic smile

He walked back behind the counter as Kairi passed by. "Didn't Riku ask you do finish the orders our customers asked?"

"I already did, it was to that girl over there"

"Ah, okay" she laughed placing the trays into the sink. "She always comes here everyday, and she is a really sweet girl, although she's kind of quiet"

"Do you know her?" he asked out of curiosity

She shook her head "No, but I try talking to her once in a while, she seems sad most of the time, I think her name is Namine"

Looking over at the girl now known as Namine, he nodded "You're right, she does seem sad. Are you sure she isn't a ghost?"

"Sora!" she glared getting ready to hit him with the dish soap

"Sorry, sorry" he quickly apologized

…………………………….

Night

"Ah, Namine right?" Kairi began as she tapped her on the shoulder

Namine looked over to face Kairi "Y-Yes, I'm sorry, were you saying something?"

She smiled "Don't worry, I just came to tell you that we are going to close in a few minutes"

"Okay" she nodded picking up her belongings "Thank you" she added

"Wait! I have a question to ask you"

She stopped before leaving the shop and turned around. "Yes?"

"Just out of curiosity… why do you come to our shop?" Kairi tried to ask in a polite way

She paused for a moment and thought "Is it a bad thing if I come here?"

"No No! It's fine really! It's just that, well" she tried thinking of some way to ask in a nicer way "I mean, let me get straight to the point, are you always waiting for someone?"

Namine smiled "I guess you could say that" and walked out.

"So, I guess she was waiting for someone" Sora began who was cleaning up the tables

"If that's the case….."

"I bet, it was someone special to her" he continued

"It's obvious, which means…" she started

"Wait! I want to solve this mystery!" he announced interrupting her


	2. The brilliant Plan

_No Matter What_

"Another day…" sighed Kairi the next morning as they were opening the shop. She looked over at the others expecting them to do their job, but instead…

"She's here again…" Riku announced in a bored tone

Sora also noticed Namine and laughed "It's not like she's doing anything bad" as he switched the lights on, and putting the chairs down from the table. Kairi, who began helping him agreed "Besides, I like having her here, she's nice"

Riku rolled his eyes "Are you sure she isn't eavesdropping on people? Maybe she's a runaway person who could be wanted? A yankee? a-"

"Oh hush!" Kairi interrupted throwing the kitchen towel at him

………………………..

Later during the day, Kairi noticed Namine drawing on a sketchbook and a notepad beside her. "Hm, she could be an artist trying to concentrate in a quiet place, maybe that's why she's here" she thought walking by her "but-"

"Riku! We have two more orders!" yelled Sora and quickly turned to face Selphie another employee "Ah! Selphie! I told you no more caffeine for you!"

"Wish you told me that earlier!" Selphie grinned

"But, this place definitely isn't quiet" she finished

She began to take notes about Namine, observing her at the same time. "Hm, she's quiet, nice, always has a sketchbook with her… lately she's been carrying a notepad along too…." she thought as she wrote them down "What else…."

"Writing a gossip story?" joked Sora

She laughed "No, this time it's definitely not gossip" and noticed Namine leaving the table to head towards the restroom. "Aha! Sora! Look!" she pointed

He looked at the table "Um, what am I supposed to look at besides a table, chairs, coffee and-"

"No, not that" she began and ran towards the table "It's her sketchbook and notepad, we can figure out what she's been doing every time she came here" she said excitedly

Sora looked at her giving her a sympathetic look "Geez, Kai, well I like to help you with that, but I don't think reading someone's own work and going through their stuff is a good idea. Especially if she's about to come by any minute" he explained looking at her and at the door to see if someone was coming out.

"Fine" she sighed and smiled again "Then we have to think of another plan!"

"Um….that's not exactly what I meant either…"

………………………………

"Ah! That's a great idea!" Selphie agreed as Kairi along with Sora explained the plan.

Sora sighed "I didn't agree to this…."

"Don't worry, this plan will be picture perfect!" Kairi announced

Riku, who was also with them gave them a suspicious look "Don't blame me if we get caught"

Selphie smiled "Like we all agreed, the three of us will get through this mission safely"

"Hey! What about me?" Sora asked

She rolled her eyes "I mean, the three of us "and" Sora will get through this mission safely"

"Let the mission begin!" Kairi saluted

"………." was all the guys could say

…………………….

Namine was just walking out of the restroom when she noticed a group looking at her sketchbook. Curious, she walked up to them and tapped the red haired girl on the shoulder. "Um, excuse me? Can I help you with something?"

Kairi laughed "I should be saying that to you" making Namine laugh along with her and continued "We were walking around the shop when I noticed your drawings. It's really good" she complimented

She blushed "Um… thanks" thinking to herself "I think,………… this is weird"

"Do you photographic memory?" Sora asked

She nodded slightly "I guess I do, now that you think about it"

"You would be a really good artist one day" Kairi smiled handing the sketchbook to Namine. She looked around "I said you would be a really good artist one day!" she said louder confusing Namine

Riku nudged Selphie "It's your cue Selphie" as she nodded and walked passed the table "accidentally" spilling the papers around them. She turned around and pretended to be surprised "I'm sorry! I'll help you with that!"

"N-No, it's alright" Namine responded as she began picking up the papers along with Selphie and Kairi who began to kneel down to help too. Kairi skimmed through each piece of paper "Dear Roxas…. Dear Roxas….. I wonder what's taking you so long? …..Roxas…" Kairi began reading and thought "Love letters?"

"Ahem" Selphie interrupted

Kairi remembered that she was still holding the letters and handed them to Namine who was slightly red.

"T-Thanks…" she muttered

"You're welcome…." Kairi answered and stood up "Well, we should get back to work now" trying to change the subject and smiled quickly running towards the kitchen.

……………………..

The Kitchen

"This is our meeting spot?" Riku asked looking around the room "Why did it have to be the kitchen?"

Sora shook his head and looked at Kairi and Selphie "So what did you two find out?"

Looking at him and remembering what she saw she explained "Well, what I know from the papers I picked up, I think she was writing love letters to someone. A guy….um…. I think his name is Roxas"

"Roxas?" Sora repeated "What a weird name"

"So is Sora" Riku joked

Selphie giggled "Should we ask her about it? This special guy?"

Looking from the kitchen window, she shook her head "I think we embarrassed her enough today…. at least this information that we know now is-"

"No! I want to say it!" Sora interrupted again

She sighed "Fine Sora, what do you think we should do?"

Sora pretended to act like a detective "As Detective Sora, I think we embarrassed her enough today….at least this information that we know now is useful and this explanation should be our answer to why she comes here a lot" he finished

Kairi rolled her eyes "Bravo Sora, what a brilliant plan" clapping her hands


	3. The Reason

_Is this all but a Dream?_

"Eh?" Namine asked, looking at Kairi "Is there someone I like?" she repeated

She nodded "I was just wondering, you know" trying to act innocent "Maybe someone that has the name Roxas…"

Remembering what happened yesterday, she laughed "Oh, did this have to do with yesterday, and all of those-"

"Love letters?" Kairi finished

"Well, kind of. Not really, it's not like he went away or anything…" she said softly

Kairi gave her a curious look "Then, if they are for him, but he didn't move anywhere, and the papers aren't really love letters……" she began and thought about it "I don't get it"

Namine sighed "It's kind of a long story…"

"I have time" she smiled excitedly

……………………………..

As the two sat down at a table, Namine started to tell the whole story. "Yes, I do like someone… and it is a guy Roxas…I usually saw him every summer since my hometown is in Twilight Town…

_I loved being around him, hanging out whether we were with his friends or not… but because of his numerous jobs, he hasn't spoken to me in a long time…_

_We always hung out at the coffee shop, talking and such. Yet, one day, he got a call from someone that he had to go to work immediately, so……_

"HE LEFT YOU?!?!" Kairi exclaimed making the whole shop look at them. Namine blushed "Please not so loud…"

"Oh sorry" she apologized and looked at her worriedly "so he left you? Just like that?" she said making a snap with her fingers.

Smiling sympathetically, she answered "It's not like he just left out, he told me…… and I understood, I thought that if I came back here again……maybe I can see him even if it was just once……"

She nodded "I understand, I remember when I waited for Sora to come back home and-"

Sora just happened to pass by and muttered "Oh no, not this lecture again" but got hit by Kairi who threw a spoon at him. "Be quiet Sora" she ordered as he laughed.

Namine giggled "You guys are pretty close aren't you?"

She grinned "Oh course, we've known each other since we were kids! Anyways, at that time, I didn't know when Sora was going to come back, or if he was even alive. But I had faith in him, and I believed that he would come back. Even if I had to wait two years" she explained

"I get it… " Namine agreed

"Yep, so how long have you been waiting for him? Days? Weeks?" she asked

"Oh!" Namine realized "That's simple, for about two years" making Kairi surprised "Two years?" as she nodded.

"Isn't that sweet? Namine is waiting for the person she loved for almost two years! Now why can't you do something like that Kairi?" Sora joked

Kairi glared at him "I did, in fact it "was" two years!"

………………………..

The two girls still continuing on their discussion, Sora looked at Namine's sketchpad and asked "Namine, do you remember this Roxas, like what he looks like?"

"Hm" she paused "I think I do" and took a piece of paper and began to sketch for a few minutes. About five minutes, she was done and showed it to Sora and Kairi.

"He's so cute!" Kairi commented

Sora looked at her "Well he's not as cute as me!" and looked at the picture again. "Wait a minute…"

"What is it?" Namine asked worriedly

He studied the drawing again looking closely. "Did this Roxas guy have blond hair? Blue

eyes?"

"How did you know?"

"Because…..I think I might know how this guy is"


	4. The Answer?

_Something Worth Waiting For?_

"This guy…" Sora repeated.

The girls turned to him, wondering if he knew. "Well? Do you know?" Kairi asked impatiently.

Sora grinned "Could the guy be Hayner?" as he began laughing, until Kairi glared at him and threw a napkin box at his head. "THIS ISN'T FUNNY SORA!!!!!" she yelled making him suddenly become silent.

"I'm sorry Namine" he sighed.

Namine shook her head "No it's fine, it is rather silly" she admitted. She looked at him "But do you really know this guy?" she asked making sure.

"Well to tell you the truth, it's a maybe. I might have seen him before, but I could be wrong at the same time" he replied sadly.

Kairi grinned "What Sora means is YES HE'S SEEN HIM!"

He gave her a weird look "I said I don't know, I'm not sure!"

She rolled her eyes "Of course Sora! We all believe that, you have lots of friends"

"Oh yeah? It's not like I became friends with all of them at first!" he argued.

"Right" she laughed.

"Have you ever heard of the quote "Never talk to strangers"?" he asked.

"In fact Sora" she began "You "do" talk to strangers! Like when you left with Donald and Goofy, and you ran into the black hooded guys in Organization 13"

"Yeah you're right-hey! How did you know about that!"

"Secret!"

As the two continued to argue, Namine was caught in the middle looking at both sides. "Should I get between them?" she kept asking herself. Watching the two, she began to laugh out of nowhere.

Kairi looked at Namine then at Sora "See? She's laughing at your stupidity!"

"What? Who's the one that sealed the worlds and defeated Org. 13?" he began to point.

"That was with the help of your friends! And we don't know if you actually sealed everything or defeated everyone that's evil".

"You weren't there because you were too busy hanging out at the islands!"

"Oh yeah? Who was the one that slept in a white pod?"

"Hey! Sleeping is good for you!"

"Stop that you two! You're making a huge scene here" Riku ordered shutting them up.

"Huh?" Namine thought and looked at everyone around them and blushed, everyone was staring at them the whole time!

………………….

Afternoon

"Okay, I'm leaving now. I want everything to be cleaned up" Riku announced before leaving the shop. Selphie giggled and waved to them before following.

Kairi sighed "It's not like we knew everyone was staring at us" she muttered.

Namine who was sitting at the same table, smiled "Well, we "were" being noisy, even I didn't notice that we were making a scene"

"You have to admit, that was fun" Sora added as he washed the tables. After a while, they finished cleaning.

"Ahh! We're done! It took forever!" Kairi cried.

Sora looked at the clock "Actually it's only been a half hour since" as he locked the windows and doors.

"I'm surprised that Sora could tell time" Namine joked as Kairi suddenly began to giggle at the comment. "Nice one Nami".

"Nami?"

"Hey! Nami should be your nickname" Sora announced.

"EH?"

Once Sora and Kairi made sure that the shop was locked, they sighed. "At least we can go home now" they muttered. Kairi glanced at Namine "Are you okay on your own?" she asked worriedly.

She nodded "Don't worry about me, I'll see you tomorrow" waving to them before running off.

They stared after her until she was far away, and it was silent between them. Then, Sora spoke up "I still think she's a ghost".

"Sora!"

………………….

Happily humming to herself, Namine walked into her room. "White, Simple and Clean!" she thought as she set her sketches down on the table. She glanced outside from the curtain noticing four teens looking at the White Mansion. "Sora and Kairi?" she wondered.

Looking closely, she shook her head "No, it's not them" and noticed one of them pointing at her. She blushed and hid away. She peeked again as they noticed they were leaving "Who were they?" she kept asking herself, looking at the boy who pointed her out. "Blond…." she identified and thought out loud. "Is that Roxas?!?!".


	5. The Idea

_Isn't it?_

"That had to be Roxas!" Namine thought as she ran down the stairs to the doors. By the time she got outside, no one was there. She sighed "I guess I was just imagining" and walked back inside the mansion.

…………………….

"I'm not lying! I really saw a girl on the second window" the blond boy said to his friends.

Pence, one of his friends shook his head "Roxas, you were just imagining it, it probably wasn't real."

"Yeah, I bet it was just the curtain, that was white and could've been mistaken as a ghost" Hayner laughed.

……………………..

Next Morning

"Hello my friends!" Selphie grinned early in the morning.

Sora and Kairi sighed "Selphie, it's only 6 a.m, the only solution to you being hyper was that coffee right?" seeing her nod, they sighed again.

"Hi…you……guys" Namine panted from all the running as she walked into the shop. Kairi looked at the others and shrugged, walking over to Namine. "Why were you in such a hurry? Don't tell me it was coffee."

"Yeah, we already have enough with this person in yellow over here" Sora pointed.

Namine giggled "No, it's not that. Something happened yesterday, and I needed to tell you guys since then."

"What what?" Kairi asked excitedly.

Sora rolled his eyes "I wouldn't be surprised if she put this in a gossip column. I bet she

saw Roxas right?" he joked. Namine stared at him amazed. Nervously, he spoke up "Sorry, did I say something that insulted you?"

She shook her head "No! I mean! How did you know that?"

"Eh? I was right?" he repeated.

"How? Did you talk to him?"

She shook her head again. "I saw him from the window with a few other people, by the time I got outside to meet him, he was gone."

"Hm, pretty mysterious" Sora began. Before he could say anything else, a group of teens about their age came in. Namine blushed when she recognized the boy from yesterday. Kairi, who was the first to notice leaned over and whispered to Namine "Do you know one of them?"

"I…..think so, the one in the blond, is Roxas…I think" she said not sure if who she was seeing was right.

She grinned and pushed her slightly "Go talk to him!" and accidentally pushed her hard enough to fall on the floor.

"Ah!" Namine said in surprise from the sudden move, bumping into Roxas. He caught her before she would fall and asked "Hey, are you okay?"

Blushing, she nodded "Yeah, t-thanks" and stood a distance away from him. "Does he not know me?" she wondered.

"I thought you said it was Roxas" Selphie whispered.

"Exactly, I said I thought it was Roxas. But I don't know if I'm right"

Sora was passing by them when he interrupted "Whatever you guys are talking about, I agree."

"Really?" Kairi said being impressed "We were just talking about how cute Riku was" she joked.

He made a weird face "Sorry, I'm straight!" and ran into the kitchen, making everyone laugh.

"Hey" Kairi poked Namine "Look, they're leaving" she pointed at the group. "You should go follow them."

"Eh? No, I would seem like a stalker or something!" she answered.

"Don't you want to know if this guy is Roxas?" she winked. Making her realize and think about it, she nodded and rushed out the door after them. "Good luck Namine" she grinned.

"Yeah, good luck and hope you don't curse us for bad happenings." Sora muttered as he suddenly appeared beside her.

Kairi suddenly fell on the floor "Sora! Don't scare me like that! What are you a ghost?!"

He pouted "Of course not! I know that Namine is!"

"Sora! We already went through this discussion!" She said smacking her head.

"I chose not to end it!" he declared.


	6. The Girl friend or Girlfriend issue

_It's hard to decide when your heart and mind don't agree _

"What are you smiling about?" Sora suddenly asked glancing at Kairi's happy reaction.

She grinned at him which was making him nervous, and replied. "I'm happy because maybe Nami found "him!" and paused. "Well, I hope."

Nodding at her statement, he laughed. "And when did you suddenly call Namine, Nami?"

"Shut up!" she yelled and threw another utensil at him, which he easily dodged. He waved his hands up. "Okay! I surrender" and began cleaning up. "Why do girls have to have short tempers?" he muttered.

……………………

"Roxas, wait right here." Olette ordered him as she ran into another store. He sighed and rolled his eyes. "Girls, they always have to shop and drag guys along with their shopping bags." and waited by standing on his skateboard. Riding back and forth, he thought. "How long is she going to take?"

At the very same moment

"This doesn't seem right to spy on someone…" Namine thought as she hid behind the wall glancing at Roxas. She closed her eyes, "Why me? I'm not the kind of person that talks first. No, I've already waited long enough!" she reminded herself and before she could take a few steps, someone crashed into her.

"That hurt…" she thought as she fell on the ground, her head throbbing. She opened her eyes to see a blond kid in front of her.

"I'm so sorry!" he quickly apologized. "Are you alright?"

She stared at him for a while. "He does look familiar…"

He sighed, and waved a hand in front of her. "Hello? Are you okay?" he repeated.

That snapped her back to reality. She nodded "Yeah, I'm okay but…" as she looked around them.

"But?" he asked worriedly.

"You might want to get off me, people are staring at us." she mumbled feeling embarrassed about the fact that they were creating a scene.

He glanced at the others and quickly stood up. "I'm sorry." and held a hand out to her, still embarrassed just like Namine.

She smiled and took his hand, relieved that everyone started walking away, and they weren't watching them anymore. "Thanks" and added. "Roxas…"

He gave her a confused look. "Did you just say Roxas? How did you know my name?" and taking another look at her, realization came to him. "Wait…Namine?"

"He remembered!" she cried in her head and nodded. "That's me."

"I haven't seen you in such a long time." he grinned back. "Although, you're still the same."

"Idiot! And you think you haven't changed?" she joked.

"Maybe…"

"Yeah, you're right." she smiled.

"About what?"

She hugged him. "You haven't changed."

Before the two could mention anything else, someone interrupted them. "ROXAS! WHERE ARE YOU?!" a girl's voice announced.

"Uh oh…" she heard him mutter. "I forgot about a certain "someone" which means-"

"Trouble." Olette finished tapping her foot impatiently, and laughed. "I'm just kidding Roxas." Noticing another person along with them, she smiled. "Is this your friend Roxas?"

"Yep. She's one of my friends from back then. Namine." he introduced and glanced at Namine. "Namine, this is Olette, my girl friend."

"Nice to meet you, Olette." Namine quietly greeted. "Wait, did Roxas just say that Olette was his girlfriend?" she panicked.

"Oh, you're so cute Namine!" she grinned.

Blushing at the comment, she decided to ask. "So Roxas, she's your girlfriend?"

"Yep, one and only in Twilight Town."

"So they are boyfriend and girlfriend." she thought sadly. "Well, I have to go, I should be meeting my friends somewhere." waving at them before running off.

"Was it something I said?" Olette asked Roxas, who shrugged.

"I don't really know." he admitted and saw her holding a few shopping bags. "Another one?" he asked. "How much money do you get?"

"I couldn't decide what to get for Hayner for his birthday. So I ended up buying all of these." she explained, slightly blushing.

"Oh right. I remember, you like him."

She covered his mouth. "Don't say it out loud!"

"And if I do?"

She paused to think. "Then I'll say that ROXAS LIKES NAMI-" she began to say loudly, getting interrupted by Roxas who covered her mouth to say any more. "Deal, I won't say anything." he sighed.


	7. The Declaration of Kairi's Plan

_So why am I feeling so sad?_

_**ring ring**_

Kairi glanced up from her notepad and checked to see who just walked in the shop. She suddenly smiled. "Nami!" she grinned running up to her. "Did you see him?!"

Namine could only nod. "Yeah…I saw him." she muttered.

She looked at her friend worriedly. "Did he say anything to you? Did he hurt your feelings? Did you even talk to him? Did his friends tease you? Did you get lost? Did-"

"Wait, wait Kairi." Namine interrupted putting a hand out for time out. "I don't need all these questions all at once."

"Oh, sorry." as she pulled out a chair. "Let's sit down and talk about this."

She sighed and sat down across from her. "I did talk to him. It was Roxas. He "did" remember me, but I think he has a girlfriend. Her name was….Olette."

"Olette?" Sora asked out of nowhere interrupting the two. "I know her, but I didn't know that she and Roxas were together."

"Sora, be quiet and let Nami explain." Kairi muttered and turned to Namine. "Okay, are you sure that it was his girlfriend?"

"I….I'm pretty sure…" she responded a bit unsure. "He "did" say she was his girlfriend, I even asked."

Kairi turned to Sora. "And you know this girl how?"

Sora gave her a normal glance. "It's not like I like her or anything. She happens to be a friend of Roxas, and I usually see them with Hayner and Pence." he explained hoping that Kairi wouldn't get mad at him.

She sighed in relief. "Okay good, for a moment there, I thought you liked her."

"Of course not! Why would you think that?" he laughed making her blush.

She looked away. "Nothing! Just wondering."

"Just by looking at those two, I can tell that they definitely like each other." Namine thought as she observed the two and saw their reactions. "They're even blushing." she smiled.

"So what are we going to do?" Sora spoke up to break the awkward silence.

"Hm, I really don't know. I can't think of what else to do." Kairi tried to think.

"We aren't going to do anything." Namine announced. "I would… rather just see Roxas being happy…… than to have my friendship with him ruined." she mumbled slowly.

"Namine…" Sora began. "I can understand that you don't want to interfere, but you know, Roxas is your friend, and he wouldn't want to see you all sad."

They stared at him in disbelief. "What?" he asked.

Kairi stared at him and began poking him. "Are you really Sora? I can't believe that Sora was so serious when he said that! That almost sounded like something that Riku would say! I can't believe it!"

"Agh! Wait!" Sora yelled and fell off his chair. Kairi looked at him. "Yeah, it's Sora."

"Of course it's me!" he shot back putting a hand on forehead and sat back down on the chair.

"Kairi is right. I never knew you were so smart Sora." Namine commented also giggling.

"Whatever." he said rolling his eyes. "Forget about it. Anyways, Namine, just know that guys have feelings too, it's just not……" he started.

"It's just not?" Kairi and Namine asked.

"It's just not so dramatic and selfish and girly like how girls react." he finished.

Kairi glared at him and grabbed him by the collar. "At least be considerate about the issue. If you're not going to help, then go help Selphie in the kitchen!" she threatened and pushed him in the kitchen.

"Namine!" she yelled.

"Y-Yes K-Kairi?" she asked nervously.

"I think that the best plan for you is to give you a new makeover!" she declared.

"Wait, what?" with a shocked look. "I don't think that's a good idea Kairi."

"C'mon! We can go shopping!" she grinned. "And I can take a break from "him" so let's plan it tomorrow!"

"Kairi, I still don't think it's a good idea. I don't want to make Roxas jealous or make him cheat on Olette."

"I never said that you had to make him jealous." she pointed. "Just be yourself, and…well I don't know, I'll figure out another plan." she smiled.

"Um…." she mumbled.

"Please Nami?" she pleaded.

She looked away in embarrassment. "Okay, I'll go shopping with you tomorrow." she agreed.

"Yay!" she cheered.

Sora sighed. "Do you mind? You're making a huge scene here."

"I thought I sent you into the kitchen!"

"Did you?"


	8. The Idea of Trying Something New

_It couldn't hurt to try something new_

"Eh…" Namine thought as Kairi dragged her around town. She closed her eyes. "Kairi, like I said, I don't need a makeover."

"That's what you think!" Kairi answered still running in front of her. "Why do you think Roxas likes her?"

She gave her a suspicious look. "And you know what Olette looks like how?" and stopped running almost making her friend fall from the sudden stop.

"Ah, haha." she laughed nervously trying to think of a way to explain it. "I asked Sora to show me a photo of Roxas and his friends."

"Oh. Okay then." Namine sighed in relief and kept walking, still keeping a distance with her. "Nothing to worry about."

"And plus, I was spying on you." Kairi added in a mumble so that she wouldn't hear.

"WHAT?!"

"Oh look! A store!" Kairi pointed interrupting the moment and the fact that she was going to get mad, and pulled her inside.

A few dressing rooms later…

"Oh, Namine, it's cute!" Kairi grinned as her friend walked out of the dressing room with yet "another" outfit.

Namine glanced at the mirror and sighed. "Thanks, but I still don't think that this would be me. Besides, I think pink is more of your thing." as she went back to change.

"You're right! I could use a pink wardrobe!" and suddenly spotted something in one of the racks. "Namine! I have to have you try on this outfit!" she ordered.

"I thought this was the last one?!"

"This will be the last one!"

"Fine…" and took the dress without taking a look at it. Once she walked out looking at the mirror again, she thought. "This dress seems okay…"

"This fits you! Definitely!" Kairi grinned.

Namine had to admit, this time Kairi picked out a good outfit. She turned to face her. "I thought you didn't want me to wear white?"

"Did I?" Kairi asked trying to remember herself saying such a thing. She waved her hand. "Oh well! The white dress fits you!" she gushed.

"Okay."

………………….

Walking Outside

"Oh!" Kairi gasped suddenly as the two were walking down the street. She checked the time on her watch. "My shift at the shop started two hours ago! I'm late!"

"Why am I not surprised? You got so carried away with all the shopping spree, as expected." Namine replied pointing at the many bags Kairi happened to carry.

Sighing, she shook her head. "Well, I better come late than never, so see ya, Nami!" she waved as she quickly ran towards a different direction. At the same moment, Namine found herself watching her friend disappear and suddenly on the ground.

"Ugh…it feels like déjà vu…" she muttered and looked at the person next to her who also fell as they collided. "Roxas!" she glared. "Do you have this issue with running into people, and out of all, it had to be me?" she asked in an annoyed tone.

"Sorry, Namine." Roxas rolled his eyes. "My skateboard must have this thing for you."

"Roxas!"

"Okay, okay! I'm sorry." Roxas apologized again not wanting his friend to hit him like how Kairi did with Sora. "If you intend to hit me like Kairi, do that to Sora not me."

"Well Sora isn't here is he?"

Not realizing that his friend were there laughing they glanced at them in surprise. "How did you get here?" Roxas asked.

"Um…" Hayner began to answer. "Skateboards?" he pointed as the others nodded.

"You were so busy talking to "her" that you didn't realize we were here the whole time." Olette giggled.

"What did she mean when she referred to me as "her"?" Namine thought. "Was it a bad thing?"

Interrupting her thoughts, Roxas faced Namine. "Hey, since all of us are just hanging out and you seem kind of alone, why don't you skateboard with us?"

"Eh?!" Namine asked blushing in embarrassment. "I…I- I don't……know how" she muttered.

"That's easy, we'll all teach you." Pense smiled and nudged Hayner. "Especially Roxas." as the two boys snickered.

………………

"Okay, Namine, carefully balance yourself on the board." Olette gently assured the nervous blond. She smiled as Namine did as what she was told. "Good! Now you can just ride!"

"W-What?" she asked. "W-Wait!"

Olette turned to Hayner and Pense and they nodded as she smiled mischievously, and pushed Namine.

"Ah! Wait, Olette!" Namine announced suddenly realizing that she pushed her as she rode downhill. "This is going too fast!" she thought as she closed her eyes and crashed into someone.

"And you're telling me that "I" run into you?" the voice asked almost sounded like he was laughing.

She opened her eyes to see that she ran into Roxas. "Ah…I'm sorry Roxas!" she blushed.

He patted her head. "It's okay, it was your first time, it's not your fault. Just remember to watch where you're going." he grinned.

"Wait…" she remembered. "That's supposed to be my line!" and noticed Olette from uphill that she was giving the two boys high fives. "What does she have against me?" she wondered.

With the three

"Good job Olette!" Pense laughed as she gave him a high five along with Hayner.

She smiled. "Do you think that worked?"

"Well, if this was your idea of bringing them together, I hope so." Hayner muttered.

"If I remember correctly Hayner, you were the one who thought of this plan." Pense interrupted.

"Why you-" he began but was cut off by Olette. "Just let it go Hayner." glancing at the two blonds at the bottom of the hill. "I'm sure that they like each other and that this plan had to at least work." and smiled. "They were meant to be."

Coffee Shop

"Sorry, I'm late!" Kairi announced as she ran inside only to find Sora cleaning up. He looked at her. "You do know we're closed Kairi."

"I know, but-" and looked for the others. "Wait, where's Riku and Selphie?" she asked.

"They had the day off today, in fact for the week." he answered again without looking at her.

"I'm sorry, Sora." she began as she started cleaning up with him.

He paused and walked away putting a wash cloth in the bucket. "I have to leave." he announced grabbing his bag. "I'm sure you can do the rest right?" and left out the door without hearing her reply.

"Eh? Sora?" she wondered.


	9. The Secret pt 1

_Mix-up wonders_

"Sigh! Life is just too complicated!" Namine complained to Kairi after explaining the whole story to her.

"I guess I have to agree." the redhead muttered without looking up. "Sora has been acting strange lately since yesterday, and still is."

Namine glanced over at Sora who was "busy" doing work behind the counter. She leaned closer to her friend. "Is that why he's not talking to you?"

She nodded. "I tried to apologize, but he just ignored me. Plus, he doesn't seem to be in the mood to talk to anyone at the moment."

……………………..

Noon

"Okay, I'll take my leave now." Kairi announced getting ready to pack her belongings and leave. In Namine's point of view it was more like run away immediately.

"Eh?" she asked in surprise. "Why are you leaving early today?" checking the time to make sure she was seeing things right.

"I need to think about…stuff. Besides, this is a good opportunity for you to figure out what's wrong with Sora." she mumbled softly so that no one would hear. She smiled weakly and left out the door.

"I'm really going to need help for that." Namine noted to herself. "Now, how am I going to plan this all out?" she thought worriedly, trying to decide what to do first. "Hey Sora, I'm going to be outside for while but I'll come back." Smiling and hoping he wouldn't be suspicious.

He chuckled and nodded. "It's okay Namine, you don't need to tell me that, since you don't work here anyways."

"Oh right. Ahaha." she nervously replied and ran out the door. "Now what?" she wondered. "I could always ask Roxas or his friends for advice on what to do… I don't know about Olette though-"

"Namine! Is that you?!" a familiar voice called out.

"Speak of the devil." she muttered glancing over at the brunette that was running towards her. "Hello Olette." she sighed.

"Hm?" she asked. "You don't look so happy today. What's wrong?"

"That's what I'd like to know."

Olette smiled knowingly at her. "Have you ever tried Sea-Salt Ice Cream?"

"What?" Namine asked in disbelief and how it was random for a girl like her to bring up at a time like this.

………………

"So" Olette began. "You're saying that Kairi and Sora are kind of upset at each other?"

"More like Sora seems to be at Kairi. We have no idea what really happened in his situation." she replied.

"Then ask him."

"What? It's not like I can just walk up to him and ask what's wrong."

"Of course you can. You just don't know how he will respond."

"How would you know?"

"I have guy friends too, Namine."

Looking at Olette, she started to take note that maybe she wasn't so bad. "Olette really does have a close relationship with guys." she admitted.

"Are you going to ask him?" her voice interrupting Namine's thoughts.

……………………

"Sora? Hello?" Namine announced walking in the shop seeing no one around. She looked at the sign that still said "We're Open!" and shook her head. "Sora, are you here?" she asked again walking around the counter to see if he was hiding. Her hand accidentally knocked over a folder on the counter as she was walking and quickly began to clean up before he came.

Taking a peek at the paperwork, she remembered seeing Sora working on, she skimmed through each of the pages and became surprised.

"Namine?" Sora asked walking behind her. "What are you doing here?"


	10. The Secret pt 2

_Don't Stay Down_

"He just had to ask an obvious question…." was the first thing that came to her mind. Sighing, she gave the stack of papers to him. "What does it look like I was doing?"

There was a pause for a moment, until he responded. "Letsee…. reading?"

"Well…. at least he got it half right…"

………………………………...

Next Morning

"WHAT?! HE'S NOT HERE?!" a familiar voice cried out, surprising everyone around

her.

"Kairi, calm down… same goes for your voice. Anyways, I didn't "say" that Sora left. I just told you that he wouldn't be working at this shift." Riku explained

Her eyes blinked a few times. "What?"

Leaning over to her friend, "In that case, it means that Sora is working at a different time." Namine whispered.

"Then…. why would he work at a different time? That doesn't make sense."

"You're asking too many questions. It's making my head hurt." Riku complained.

Putting her hands on her hips, she pouted. "Well maybe, you could be hiding something from me! Right Namine?" as she glanced over to her, only to see that she disappeared. "Namine?"

……………………….

"Where did Sora go?" Namine tiredly thought to herself while running. "I checked almost everywhere, and he's still not here, he better not-" but before she could finish, she ran into someone, making him fall down.

"Ow…." was his only response.

She looked at him. "I'm so sorry! I wasn't looking where I was going, and I have this habit of running into people, and Sora!" realizing that it was the brunette boy she was searching for all along.

"Namine?" he asked. "Well, if it was you, I'm fine."

"I've been looking all over for you!"

"Yeah, I can tell. I've never seen you so active like that." noticing the fact that she was in the state of passing out, from running too much.

"Sora!" she glared, giving him an annoyed glance. "I've already had enough from Roxas, I don't need any from you."

"Okay, okay. Just relax, if you keep that up, then you'll end up like someone I know." he laughed, and got up to walk over to a small vendor.

She looked over at him and sighed. "I'm turning into someone he knows?" wondering to herself who it was. "Is he talking about Kairi? Wait, I don't act like her!". At that very moment, she noticed Sora coming back with something in his hands. "Oh, don't tell me it's…"

"Sea Salt Ice Cream?" he grinned holding out a blue popsicle in front of her.

"What is it with everyone thinking that, "that" - (pointing to the blue popsicle) can solve your problems?"

Sora laughed nervously. "Well… it's summer…and it tastes good."

……………………………

They sat next to each other in silence as they ate, not sure of what to mention first. "You were talking about Kairi right?" Namine questioned looking away.

"Huh?" he asked, surprised that she suddenly asked him something.

"I mean, earlier. You told me that I'm turning into someone you knew, it was Kairi right?" repeating what she said.

"Well… yeah, you're right." he admitted. "Is that what was on your mind the whole time?"

"There's that. I mean you do know that you're keeping Kairi in the dark, not telling her anything." she gently reminded him.

"I know…." he sighed. "She's probably mad at me right?"

She shook her head. "Not really. Worried would be the word for her. Especially, today when she found out that you were going to work at a different shift, when she's not around."

"I just needed time to think." he mumbled.

"Sora, you never think. Well…. usually. If you were, you always thought out loud and asked Kairi for advice."

"I don't know what to do. This time, Kairi isn't the person I can go to ask for advice at the moment."

"Then…" she began. "Finally tell her what's going on. Before the worst happens. Tell her that you're moving."

"I was hoping for a less obvious solution. It's better than her getting mad at me for not saying anything to her." as he stood up along with Namine. "Fine, I can't resist your cute face anyways." he joked.

She rolled her eyes. "Sure, but I bet it's different with Kairi!" as she giggled at his reaction.

"Oh yeah? What about Roxas? I know you like him!" he shot back, laughing at her reaction this time.

Watching them walk away, they didn't realize that someone was listening to their conversation the whole time. "Sora's leaving?" Selphie gasped.

"Sora! Is that your fifth Sea Salt Ice Cream?!" Namine exclaimed from far away.

"Actually, this would be my sixth." he chuckled as he opened a new one.


	11. The Messed Up Moments

_Believe in your heart_

"Ne, ne Kairi!" a hyper girl exclaimed as she immediately ran into the shop almost causing Riku to fall over.

"Hey, no running!" he reminded her as she just grinned.

"Sorry Riku!" she quickly apologized and ran into the kitchen looking for her certain redhead friend. She glanced to her left and to her right to only see no one. "Hm, if I were Kairi, where would I be hiding?" she thought as she began opening cupboards, and drawers, even the oven. "Nope, not here either she thought." as she opened a box of cookies and peered inside. "Well, I didn't find Kairi but I found some cookies!" she happily declared and stuffed some in her mouth and continued looking.

"If you're looking for the sugar packets, I already hid them somewhere where you're not supposed to find them." a voice muttered behind her.

"HAIRI, EVE BIN LOOKIN FER YEH!" Selphie yelled hugging her who gave her a confused look. (hiding the fact the cookies were in her mouth). Translation: "Kairi, I've been looking for you!"

"I don't know what you just said, and hey are you eating cookies? Riku ordered you not to eat any sugar during your shift." Kairi suspiciously asked staring at her friend in the yellow dress who shook her head.

"ME DID NOT NOT EAT COOKIES!" she protested shaking her head. Translation: "I didn't eat any cookies!"

She gave her a blank look and sighed. "I'm not that stupid Selphie, your cheeks are puffy from the cookies in your mouth. It's really noticeable."

"Hairi! Hairi! swelphie saw swora and wamie!" Selphie continued as she jumped around Kairi to get her attention, waving her arms around beginning to annoy her. Translation: "Kairi! Kairi! Selphie saw Sora and Namine!"

"Don't eat with your mouth full!" Kairi snapped as she walked out of the kitchen. "Come out when you're not eating anything."

Seconds later

"I'm ready!" the brunette grinned running around Kairi again. "Kairi! Kairi! I saw Sora and Namine together!"

She gave her nod and a weird glance. "Okay, that's nice to hear that Selphie, the world is full of interesting things isn't it?" as she grabbed a washcloth to wash the messy tables the customers left behind. "So, what were they talking about that was so interesting?"

"Well" her friend smiled with dreamy eyes. "I, saw them talking and eating sea salt ice cream, and they were eating something blue which was sea salt ice cream, and they were eating something cold which was sea salt ice cre-"

"You've already said that!"

"Oh! really?" Selphie asked in amazement and thought some more. "They had on their serious faces. It was something important, and she was trying to cheer him up with something that was on his mind."

This was starting to interest Kairi but it was also making her feel left out. "What could they be talking about that they couldn't tell me?" she kept wondering and worrying at the same time. "What were they talking about Selphie?!" she panicked turning to her.

"Hm?" she asked tilting her head slightly to the side and blushed a little. "Well…I don't know…I was looking at their sea salt ice cream the whole time to even notice." she admitted laughing nervously.

"You don't know?!" Kairi wanted to yell but kept it in her head as her friend continued on.

"Well, I was going to get one, but then they would've seen me, so I had to wait at the right moment to get one. Guess what! I got some!" Selphie grinned showing three blue popsicles in her hand. "There's one me." she announced putting on in her pocket and gave one to Kairi. "This one is for you!" and quickly ran to look for Riku. "Oh RIIIIIIKUUUUU!" she kept yelling running around the shop again.

"I'm right beside you idiot." the silver haired boy glared as he held wet dishes showing that he was busy at the moment. "Can't you see my hands are full? What do you want?"

"Don't worry! Leave it to Selphie! I'll help you!" she grinned, and before Riku could protest or even ask what she was going to say, she opened the wrapper of the popsicle and stuffed it in his mouth. "No need to thank me!!!!!!"

While Kairi stood frozen in her spot staring at the Selphie feeding Riku scene, she didn't know which emotion to come first. Become worried that something bad will happen, laugh about what's going on, or just breathe and walk away. "Breathe and walk away." she decided and walked behind counter to where all the papers were at. "Maybe if I just draw a little, that could calm me down." she noted as papers accidentally fell to the floor.

"Hm? What's this?" she thought as she put most of the papers back in neat order on the desk. "It says, Talk to Namine about something important." she read. "This is Sora's handwriting, I know this scribbling." but before she could read anymore, a certain blond walked in. "Oh Namine." she called out glancing up expecting to see her, but it was only Roxas. "Oh Roxas, hi. Sorry, I thought you were Namine. Have you seen her?" as she stuffed the paper in her pocket.

"Actually I was about to ask you the same thing." he responded. "I haven't seen her all day, so I thought that maybe she was hanging out here with you." as he sat down on a chair. "So, where's Sora? Messing around in the kitchen or something?"

"Now that you mention it……I haven't seen him.." she mumbled.

………………….

Sora and Namine at the moment

Namine sighed as they got to her house (White Mansion) as she stared blankly at the brunette who was laying down on the couch. "I told you eating so many of those blue popsicles would give you a stomachache." as she walked into the kitchen to find some remedies for him.

"Eh, but it was worth it." he smiled weakly still laying down on the couch and sighed. "I kinda did that on purpose to miss work and think about what I was going to say to Kairi anyways."

He heard a chuckle from her as she came back with medicine. "I never thought thinking was your thing."

"You're so mean, it's a bit too bad I'm not feeling well, otherwise I would've gone up and chased you around the house for saying that." he mumbled tiredly as he closed his eyes.

Namine smiled again at her silly friend. "Whatever you say. I have to leave for a bit to buy food for dinner." as she placed a bottle on the table beside him. "If you're not feeling well when I'm gone, just drink this. Any questions?"

"Can…..you…" he began as he opened his eyes, motioning for her to come closer. She leaned closer to him to hear what he had to say. "Buy me pocky?" he finished almost making Namine fall over anime style.

"T-That's it?" she asked in disbelief as he only nodded and sighed again. "I'll give it to you once you feel better." and left the mansion to go shopping. "That weirdo." she muttered.

--------------

"Do you think that Sora is with Namine?" Roxas finally spoke up from the silence looking at Kairi who was unconsciously drawing random scribbles.

"I don't even want to think about it." Kairi mumbled and sighed. "Roxas, you like Namine right?"

"Yep I do." he admitted without hesitating to answer. "Are you worried about her being with Sora? That they might like each other?" he questioned seeing her nod. "You know, you could always ask her how she feels about him."

"Since you brought that up." she interrupted as she noticed the other blond starting to come inside. "Roxas, go hide in the kitchen." she ordered as Roxas simply followed orders since he knew what she was planning.

"Kairi!" Namine waved running towards her, as the redhead forced a smile waving back to her. "Hi Nami." she responded.

"Nami? Haha, I forgot about that nickname, only Sora keeps calling me that." Namine laughed making Kairi wince.

"Sora eh?" Kairi thought to herself. "So you like Sora?"

The blond nodded happily. "Of course I do! He's weird and random often a dense minded person at times, but he's caring and sweet also. Who wouldn't love him?" she smiled as she described the silly brunette boy.

"Oh…really?" Kairi asked pretending to be interested as she glanced at her drawing trying to avoid her happy gaze. Before she could ask any more questions, Namine quickly looked at the time and gasped.

"Sorry Kai, I have to do grocery shopping! I also have to buy chocolate." her friend added as she wrote down the things she needed.

"Wait, why would you need chocolate?" Kairi stared at her list with a confused look about a item she had written down.

Namine smiled. "It's for Sora of course! See you later Kairi!" and ran out of the building leaving her friend to her thoughts.

Forgetting that Roxas was in the kitchen and that he heard the whole conversation between them, he casually walked out only to see a crying Kairi. "Hey, Kairi, why are you crying?" as he ran to her worriedly. "Are you okay? Wait, that's a bad question…"

Kairi didn't say anything but tears continued as she leaned on Roxas, who took her actions by surprise and nervously hugged her back. "K-Kairi?" he asked again.

"S-S-She likes Sora, Roxas!" Kairi cried. "Why?"

Roxas, not sure of what to say to her closed his eyes for a moment. "I don't think that's exactly what's going on."

"Yes it is. Chocolates for Sora, the two of them hanging out, him ignoring me and always talking to Namine instead, and the note in his handwriting that says talk to Namine about something important!" she quickly said still hugging him.

He sighed. "You have a point, but I say we should wait until we really know what happened."

"O-Okay…" Kairi finally gave in, as the two still hugged each other.

"Kairi, I almost for-" Namine was about to say, only to see the two of them hugging who didn't notice her. "Namine, calm down, Roxas…and Kairi… don't like…each other that way…" Namine kept repeating to herself. Seeing that they didn't let go of each other, she quietly walked out the door and left to go back home.

In the Mansion

She smiled warmly at the sleeping face of Sora. "He really is cute when he sleeps, haha. That must be one thing Kairi likes about him, they've known each other since kids." she remembered her friend telling her that day.

_Flashback_

_"Haha, so that's what Sora is like!" Namine laughed as she and Kairi were talking about him._

_"I remember on our first sleepover, the reason why i couldn't sleep was because i was so nervous around him and that his sleepy face was sooooooo cute!" Kairi gushed and blushing as it replayed into her mind. "I was worried about waking him up because i was worried that I would snore or doing something weird in my sleep, so I didn't sleep a wink!" _

_"So what happened next?" Namine asked in curiousity._

_Kairi blushed again. "Once it was morning, he noticed I was feeling sleepy so he told me to go to sleep and that he would be the first person I'd see when I woke up. He was right! Only except, he was sleeping right beside me..." she giggled as she took a pen out to write things down._

_"He was making sure you were alright of course." Namine giggled thinking about how romantic that could've been._

_End of Flashback_

Her expression went blank as Kairi came to her mind. "Kairi told me she liked Sora. So what's she doing with Roxas?"


	12. The Notebook

_It takes Two_

"You awake?"

Namine opened her eyes confused and noticed someone opened the blinds for the sunlight to shine in. "Now I am…what's with all this light?" she muttered using her hand to cover her face from all the brightness.

Sora who took this by surprise chuckled. "Well, you really need to let some sunlight in the house once in a while. It's all dark in here. Don't you get lonely living in this house? er- I mean mansion?" correcting himself that this wasn't really a house.

Thinking about it to herself, that was a question she never took notion of. "Now that you mention it. Not really, I'm usually with you guys during the day." she shrugged looking at the clock and gasped. "Sora! It's already ten in the morning?!"

Receiving an applause from him he laughed. "Glad to see that you figured that out."

"No you idiot! I mean don't you usually work at this time?" she sighed also annoyed just after a few minutes of waking up.

Pretending to think about it, he smiled. "Yep! I do."

It became silent between the two, Sora who was grinning and Namine who was shocked and confused as she shook her head. "Then why are you here?"

Getting his bag and opening the door he turned around. "I was going to wait for you, maybe you wanted to come along."

"O-Oh….really?" was all the blond could answer still in shock. She stared at the floor nervously as a slight blush appeared on her face. "Y-You didn't have to…"

Even though the teenage boy in front of her was pretty dense, her reaction was pretty noticeable to him as he patted her head. "Let's go before I get even more late."

"I'm not a dog you know!"

-----------------------------------------

"You're late." Riku announced as Sora tried to sneak into the shop making him freeze. "Did you sleep in again? How typical."

"Well, actually, someone did sleep in and it wasn't me." he nervously explained also referring to the blond girl behind him.

Namine put her hands on her hips. "Well, maybe if you woke me up sooner and not wait for me to actually wake up, we wouldn't be in this situation."

"Namine has a point you know." a familiar voice agreed appearing behind Namine as she turned around who came in.

"Ah! Roxas…"

Kairi who was already there and noticed the others coming in, once again, stared at the scene. "Why would you be waiting for Namine?" the question slipped out as the crew turned to her. "I mean, why would you be waiting for her when she doesn't even work here?"

Roxas agreed. "Ah, Kairi has a good point too."

"Geez, I didn't know today was twenty questions." the brunette boy muttered sarcastically. "Can't I do something nice for a friend who let me stay overnight?" as gasps could be heard from his friends, and a snap from Kairi's pencil.

"You did what?!" Riku asked hoping it wasn't what he thought he just heard.

"I didn't mean it like that! I just wasn't feeling well, and Namine helped me, that's it!" waving his arms around to gather their attention to him.

----------------------

In the Kitchen

"So are you sure that's all you did to Namine? Nothing more?" Roxas asked eyeing him suspiciously as Riku walked in circles around Sora.

"I'm sure!" he shot back. "And why are we in a dark room with only one light and I'm tied to a chair with you guys questioning me like how it is in the movies?!"

"It makes the story interesting."

"You're kidding me….."

-----------------------

"Alright, just calm down Namine…" she reminded herself as she inhaled slowly as she nervously sat down on a chair across from where Kairi was pretending to be writing something. "What should I say?"

"Say about what?" Sora asked appearing out of nowhere as he took a seat beside her.

"Never mind." she mumbled as she turned to him. "Are you going to tell Kairi today?"

Pulling out a notebook and opening it up to the first page, he pointed to the first line. "What I'm about to tell Kairi: Part One" and handed it to her. "I was kind of hoping you could edit it."

Sweatdropped at the moment she closed her eyes to remain calm. "Sora….when I said think about what to say to her. I didn't mean this!" using her pen to circle the words "Part One."

"Don't worry there are only Five Parts I wrote up."

"That's not what I'm talking about!" taking the notebook to whack him on the head while Kairi watched them, sighing to herself.

"You know Kairi, if you keep that up with the attitude, you're going to feel feverish." Roxas commented seeing her condition and her nonstop habit of watching the two.

"I know, I know. I just can't help it. It keeps bothering me." she murmured gazing at the floor to avoid any eye contact. "But, if that's the way they feel, I'm alright."

"You shouldn't lie to yourself. You can say you're ok, but it's obvious you're not." trying to reason to her that she shouldn't be like this. "I told you to wait until we know the truth. I'm not willing to fall for those kinds of dramatic romantic movies where the character thinks so and so likes someone else." he smiled. "I have faith in love."

First, the red head didn't say anything and once she did, it was nothing but giggles. "Are you sure you didn't get that from a soap opera too?" she grinned at his blushing face. "It sounds like a line the character would say."

"Or maybe it's you that has been watching too many romantic shows when she's still dreaming of Prince Charming." he joked this time to make her blush. They both had to admit, that their comebacks were funny as they laughed together.

Namine, who had already stopped her notebook from hitting Sora, paused to hear laughter from the two behind the counter. Setting the notebook down, her expression went gloomy.

"Hey, Nami? You okay?" Sora worriedly began waving a hand in front of her face.

"I'm fine, I'll edit this at home, so I'll see you later." she said quietly trying to avoid the subject and ran out the door.

-------------- White Mansion

"Now, let's see what Sora wrote up in here." as she hoped that he didn't write up nonsense that would be a waste of time and took a red pen for editing work. Hesitating at the beginning, she forced her hand to turn the page.

After reading all of it, she couldn't believe that Sora would write this much. "It's almost like a biography or something." smiling about the fact that he took all this time to write up a whole story about him and Kairi since kids and until now…

"_Our friendship last for many years. I still hope we can become friends when I finally tell you…."_

"Sora has pretty good endings for his write ups. The only problem about it, are spelling errors." she glared as she checked back numerous pages that had red markings on them. "Well, might as well give it to him."

--------------------------

"Here Sora! Thanks for letting me read it, although you had spelling problems." Namine grinned handing the notebook back to him while Kairi gave Roxas a confused glance.

Kairi looked at the notebook that seemed like he was doing a project that was important. "What did Sora write about?"

"Oh, well…." she tried to explain. "Nothing really…"

This answer certainly didn't help anyone at all, and she knew it. "Oh…" was all the red head to say to that as the tension between them continued.

"What's with the gloomy atmosphere all of a sudden?" Sora whispered to Roxas seeing that the girls were quiet.

"I don't really know exactly. I was thinking you had an idea." the blond boy whispered back.

"Maybe it's their time of month?"

"SORA!"


	13. The Set Up Plan, and um Sugar?

_Just Say It_

"Hey you four." the voice of reason interrupted their awkward moment as they turned to the brunette girl and their older friend.

"Guess what? Guess what?" Selphie grinned, running around in circles to grab their attention. "Riku and I got tickets for a trip at Sunset Hill! and you know what?" pausing to smile some more. "We can't go!"

"Uh….aren't you supposed to be upset?" Sora asked wondering if he had heard correctly.

The silver haired boy shook his head. "No, because we decided to give the four tickets to you guys."

"That's right!" Selphie quickly agreed snatching the tickets out of Riku's hand and skipped happily to each of them. "One for you, and you, and you, and you!" she counted and clapped her hands. "Hooray!"

Roxas eyed the two suspiciously and glanced at his own ticket. "Why would you give them to us? You could've just given them to Yuna and Tidus, or maybe to people like Rinoa and Squall or-"

The older boy shrugged. "No reason." as he nodded his head to the hyper energetic girl who nodded in return.

"That's right! Riku's right! No reason, it's 'cuz you're so special! Now shoo! You better use those paper things tomorrow!" the girl announced ushering them to the exit door.

---------------

The Next Morning - Waiting for all four of them to meet

"Good morning Kairi." Namine murmured quietly enough for her to hear as she stood beside the red head.

Without having to look at her, she nodded. "Hey Namine." the silence, that still continued between them, made them both tense again.

"Um, Kairi, I know things don't seem like they used to before-" the blond spoke up but also tried to avoid eye contact.

A sigh escaped from Kairi's lips. "No, I already know. Sora is leaving isn't he?" which shocked Namine and left her to wonder how she figured it out, but Kairi wasn't done speaking yet. "Sora is leaving me because he likes you, isn't it?"

"Eh?! No! You're wrong! but technically, you're not…"

Her suspicion came along with a curious look. "Which is it Namine?"

"Look, I can't give you all the details, but-" sighing softly and looked at her. "No matter what, even if Sora did like me, I wouldn't take him away from you."

Her bitter response didn't help at all. "How would I know that? How do I know you're not lying?"

"Ugh, Kairi! Can't you tell?" Namine spat back in annoyance, but calmed down before starting a fight, which was the last thing she wanted. "There's someone I really like, and it's not Sora. I also have a feeling he likes someone else."

A smile began to form on Kairi's face. "Is it Olette you're afraid of? Are you worried that he likes her?" receiving a nod in response, she muttered. "Namine, who do you like?"

She gave her friend a disbelieving look. "You already know who it is."

"No I don't. I could be thinking of a different person. So who is it?" nudging her slightly

to get an answer.

Namine sighed already giving up. "Roxas." she whispered.

"Who? I couldn't hear you."

"I like Roxas! I'm in love with him!" the blond girl exclaimed to her, her face growing red with embarrassment that she had to say it aloud to her own best friend. Noticing how she was smiling even more, and not knowing why was annoying her. The person behind her, was the answer.

"Hey Roxas." Kairi greeted and continued to grin letting the two have their say.

"So that's why Kairi pretended not to hear me! She wanted me to say it out loud because Roxas was right behind me!" Namine noted angrily but also relieved to let her feelings out. Even if he didn't feel the same.

"You like me Namine?" Roxas questioned her, also being sure that she wasn't kidding.

This was not the thing Namine would usually do, actually confess what she felt. "Yes." she admitted. "I like you, and I'm okay if you like someone else…. like Olette."

"Well first of all." he began to point out before getting all the facts wrong. "I don't like Olette, I only like her as a friend."

Her eyes widened in surprise and confusion. "B-But you said she was your girlfriend!"

"Huh? When did I say that?"

"When I, when you, when we met them! Your only girlfriend!" she reminded him also trying not to seem angry.

His blank expression changed to a smile. "Yeah, that's true. Olette is my friend who is a girl, in other words, girl space friend, not girlfriend." he corrected her, as her reaction to this went even more red. "Besides, I have no intention of falling for her. If I did, Hayner would come after me and kill me."

Kairi patted Namine's shoulder. "That's right, Hayner and Olette like each other."

--------- At that moment

"Achoo!" Olette and Hayner sneezed in unison.

Pence, unsure of whether to laugh or be suspicious about this sudden reaction, shrugged. "Do you two have a cold or something?"

"Nnn, I think we…" Olette began, as Hayner finished the sentence. " are being talked about."

"Or you guys could have mono." their camera friendly friend suggested only to be glared at.

---------

"S-So… you don't like Olette in that kind of way?" Namine stuttered and glanced at him to see if he was teasing. He shook his head, as her shoulders relaxed in relief. "Oh."

He walked up closer to her, his hands on her face, feeling her cheeks warm up since she was nervous. They were only inches away from each other, when he whispered. "I don't like you Namine."

"EH?!" Kairi exclaimed in the background, not expecting this to happen.

Namine closed her eyes. "Oh."

His serious look formed to a happy one, as he grinned. "I love you Namine!" as he pinched her cheeks.

"Ah!" she yelped pushing him away and rubbing her face that left red marks. "That hurt!"

"Ah, love hurts Namine." he grinned again.

Namine couldn't help but glare at him for doing that. "I'm going to hurt you!" as she began to choke him, while he was laughing.

"Uh….I kinda wanna ask, but I also kinda don't." their fourth friend finally arrived as he had an amused expression. Staring at the scene with Kairi who was laughing at Namine, and Namine for some reason trying to choke Roxas for whatsoever reason wasn't his business. "Do I risk it?"

The blond teen was still focused on Roxas. "Ask Sora, take the risk."

"I say the risk you four should all take is to USE THE PAPER THINGS!" a familiar voice cried aloud.

"Eh?" the four stared at the girl in the yellow dress. "The tickets?"

"Yes the tickets!" she snapped tapping her foot as she waited for them to start moving. Once they were gone, she smiled to herself. "Of course the only reason why Riku and I gave you guys the tickets was to set you all up, and." she paused. "and also so I could steal all the sugar in the shop today."

"What did you say Selphie?" Riku asked appearing out of nowhere, and suspiciously eyeing her actions.

"Nothing!"


	14. The Confession and Heartbreak

_I want you to be Happy_

"Thanks Mickey!" the four waved as the mouse waved back driving the train back to town. They arrived at the Sunset Hill train station finally after so many moments of silence.

"So where are we going to you guys?" Kairi spoke up with a smile as she turned around to find that Namine and Roxas were gone. "Eh?"

…

"Wow! Look at the view from up here Roxas!" Namine stared in awe and happily opened her messenger bag to reveal notebooks, sketchbooks, and colored pencils. "I'm so glad I brought this along with me."

The blond boy smiled sitting down beside her staring at the view below them. "It really is nice and peaceful up here. Plus, we should give Kairi and Sora some time alone."

She stopped sketching for a moment and paused. "Sora told me he was really going to tell Kairi the truth today."

"Oh is he?" he asked with interest as he gazed at Namine. "I would've thought that he did that a long time ago, considering that the three of us are-"

She nodded not needing to hear the rest of the sentence. "I know, I can't tell if this is good or bad news for Kairi. It's really frightening to know the answer."

…

Back to the two who were left at the train station, for the past few minutes, it was all nothing but silence. It seemed to be their theme of the week. Silence.

She heard a sigh from Sora after a while, and was tempted to look at him, but didn't. His hand suddenly grabbed hers as they started walking away. "Wha?… Sora?" Feeling the warmth of his hand has been a while. She blushed slightly squeezing his hand back happily.

"There's no use in wasting our tickets here, we should probably start using them now." he muttered without turning back. "Besides, I have a feeling that Roxas and Namine are together somewhere."

She giggled at his expression. "Are you sad that they got together?"

He shrugged. "In a way kind of. I'm glad that they finally got over it and all, but then it means that I won't be hanging around Roxas as much as before."

She never took much thought about that. "Now that you mentioned it. Do you think that Namine would do the same to me?" as he let go of her hand for a moment to order something.

"Probably." he responded, but seeing the sudden sadness on her face, made him regret what he just said. "Hey, if that happens, you can always hang out with me." he grinned taking the two sea salt ice creams from the vendor. "Thanks."

Handing her one, she took it and stared at him. "Sea Salt Ice Cream?"

He looked at her worryingly. "What? I can get another one if it isn't enough."

She laughed and shook her head. "No not that. I just didn't think you wanted dessert at this time." as she unwrapped the wrapper and threw it away.

"Of course! You know me Kairi, I thought you would've gotten used to it by now." he teased and ate his slowly.

"Seriously, you're never going to get a girl to date you if you're going to keep eating on this kind of diet." she added as she made a small sour face. "I'm gonna have a brain freeze."

He chuckled at her reaction to eating the ice cream. "I forgot, you haven't had this before." and started walking with Kairi trailing behind him. After they both finished, they began exploring the area seeing the view of Sunset Hill.

The redhead leaned on the wooden fence as she looked over the ocean and the sunset in view. She didn't know what to say at the moment, and she was getting tired of always dealing with the silence. Being quiet wasn't her thing. "Sora?" she spoke softly.

"Mm?" and looked at her, but she turned away in embarrassment. He cocked his head to the side in wonder. "What is it?"

Looking down, she muttered. "Sora, do you like anyone? As in love someone?"

He took this question hard to answer. More like to explain since he had a pretty long story. "Yeah, I do. But I'm afraid that the girl I like doesn't like me back."

Her heart was beating nervously. "Really?"

"There's more to it. Even if we do end up being together, I don't know if we would last very long." he mumbled, but Kairi heard every word.

"Sora…" she whispered taking his hand softly. She smiled sincerely looking at him. "I don't care if you don't feel the same as I do, but I really like you. I hope that the girl you like will accept your feelings." she let go and began walking away from him.

"What if the person I like is you?" he answered back making her stop walking. He stood behind her, his hands on her shoulders. "Kairi, there is something I think you should know. We both like each other, but…I won't be staying here on Destiny Islands with you and the others anymore."

"W-What?!" she almost exclaimed as she turned around to see if he was joking like how Roxas was with Namine. "Y-you're joking right?" as she began trembled slightly to hear this.

He sighed knowing this was going to take a while. "Kairi. I'm going to school in Twilight Town with Namine and Roxas. The three of us are leaving the island since summer is almost over."

She stood frozen on her spot. Summer. Summer was ending. She couldn't take that idea in so easily. She just remembered taking a summer job. She met Namine. She helped Namine and got to know Roxas. Then there was Sora. The four of them. Friends. "You're leaving." she repeated.

"Yes."

Her voice quivered. "W-When?"

She heard him breathe deeply and sigh. "Tomorrow."

"T-Tomorrow?!" she gasped. "B-But…that's too soon!"

"I know." he nodded. It wasn't the fact that he was leaving soon that ticked her off. It was the part about how he could be so calm about this.

She didn't say anything. She couldn't bring any words out. She couldn't stop him from. Leaving. Leaving her. "You knew…Namine and Roxas knew…and you guys didn't tell me?"

"I'm really sorry, I didn't want you to know."

Kairi shook her head not wanting to hear any more of it.

……………………

The Next Day

"Kairi, you're friends are leaving today, aren't you going to see them off?" she heard her mother knock on her door a few times.

The redhead continued to lay on her bed muffling out a no to her mom and that she would call them later anyways. "They lied to me…They're leaving…" she kept repeating. "They all knew it the whole time…" more tears began to flow. "What am I going to do?……."


	15. The Foursome Gang Again

_**Walking this road without you….**_

"Sora…" Namine called to the brunette boy softly, her voice was sincere but sad.

His head hung down low to avoid her gaze. "I knew that it might end up this way…" as he stuffed his hands in his pockets and sighed. "I can't do anything."

"Now that's not true." the blond interrupted with a serious glance upon her face. "I might have met Kairi just this summer, but you've been friends with her since childhood, she will never be mad at you, but she will…"

A hand was raised to stop Namine from continuing on. His face was serious also but also full of hurt as he shook his head. "Just stop talking. Besides, the train is going to leave soon and I'm sure Roxas would be worried about us if we don't arrive."

She wanted to protest some more about the situation, but she had a feeling that no matter what, Sora wasn't in the mood to hear it. When she was sure he wasn't around to hear her, she looked at the clouds, "Kairi, you are going to do something…aren't you?"

_**To Remake Forgotten Promises and meet you at roads' end…**_

…………………

_**Faded Memories…**_

The redhead sighed every once in a while as she turned each page slowly. She was looking through the old photos she'd been keeping since she was younger. Most of them were with her and Sora of course. The good, the bad, the awkward, the funny.

_**Reconstructed Memories…**_

Then came Namine, and later…Roxas. For such an odd reason, a smile appeared on her face. Admitting to herself, she really found this summer a lot more fun than the years before it. Plus, she began talking and meeting new friends along the way.

_**A Dream…A Dream of You…In a World without You…**_

Shutting the book silently, and for once in a long time, she finally took the urge to climb out of her bed. She had a plan. And this plan was bound to work. "I'm not giving up." she declared.

_**A Scattered Dream that's like a Far-Off Memory…**_

_**A Far-Off Memory that's like a Scattered Dream…**_

The two teens sat down all tense. Their friend Sora who was sitting right across from them was being too quiet. It was like the hyper active personality was sucked out of him. Replacing him with an…actually they really didn't have a name for it. They just knew that he was upset and was doing a good job of worrying them.

Roxas, who was noticing Namine's tensed up act, slowly took his hand to grab her own, in a sign that meant to calm down. She slightly jumped at the surprised action from him but relaxed, as she gave him a small smile.

"Thanks.." she managed to say towards him.

He chuckled at her nervous act now. "At least you aren't stuttering around me."

Giving him a confused look, she wondered aloud. "When do I ever stutter?"

He leaned back, closing his eyes as if he was going to rest and laughed. "Oh wouldn't you like to know?"

She stared at him, as she saw him open his eyes. "Yes I would like to know."

"Well, there were a couple of times before we actually got to know each other." he pointed out.

She swatted his hand away. "That doesn't count, I get nervous around people I don't know."

"How about when you hung around me?"

"That doesn't count either, I usually act like that when I'm trying to get to know someone."

"But you've known me since we were kids."

"So? Maybe I was worried that you changed." she shot back another cover up for her answer, and folded her arms. "Forget it, you don't know any."

He leaned closer to her. "What if we ended like this?" as their faces were mere inches apart from each other. "Doesn't this work?" he guessed.

She was speechless and looked away. "W-Wha?"

He smiled. "See? You. Stuttered." he stated as he saw her face flush with red.

Before anything else could spark between them any more, they heard an cough interrupt their moment.

"Ahem." Sora coughed to grab their attention. I don't know if you guys have noticed but, we're here in Twilight Town, as he pointed to the station sign. Gathering his belongings, he got up and smirked at the two teens who laughed back and followed after him.

………

"Welcome to Twilight Academy!" a girl happily greeted the three as they entered the office. "My name is Yuffie, I'm your school rep, so feel free to come to me when you need help!" she turned to another girl who was a little older than her. "Aerith-chan! Do you have their room numbers?"

"A-Ah y-yes Yuffie-chan!" the dressed up pink high school student quickly answered handing her the three schedules for the students. She smiled warmly at the three. "Hello, I'm Aerith, I usually help around the campus when Yuffie isn't around."

"Hi, I'm Namine." the blond girl greeted back. In fact, that was her first attempt to introduce herself without anyone having to do it for her.

"I'm Roxas." the boy beside her grinned and pointed at Sora. "And this is our friend Sora."

Sora nodded to acknowledge them, but was still in a quiet mood.

"Ah! Sora is a little tired." the two announced in unison to avoid any bad first impressions.

"Of course!" the dark haired ninja agreed. "Feel free to go to your rooms! Have a nice school year!" she waved as the teens walked out of the office and searched for their room numbers.

"Hey, it seems like you and I are roommates Roxas." Sora managed to speak out as they all read their schedules.

Roxas nodded and turned to Namine. "Your room number is only two rooms away from us. We're not that far away." he grinned.

"I hope my roommate isn't strict or mean." she timidly muttered. She would be happy to be at this school of her choice and try to make new friends, but she would rather be roommates with Kairi. Kairi was the only one who understood her, or even Olette would be fine since she was coming here anyways.

---------

She stood in front of the door.

"The door isn't going to open by itself Namine." Sora joked as he made the attempt to open the door first, to reveal…

"K-Kairi." he said in shock and rubbed his eyes to make sure he wasn't dreaming.

The redhead didn't say anything, but smiled walking towards them. "Hi you guys."

"K-Kairi…you…D-Destiny Islands…h-here…in school." Sora tried to ask but all these thoughts were confusing him. "You're here…"

"Of course I would." she answered simply. Turning to Namine, she grinned. "I wasn't going to give up." as she gave her a thumbs up.

"Kairi…" she grinned back, glad that she was right about her friend.

"Besides, I was planning to come here for high school." she added. "S'ok with you guys right?"

Roxas smiled which seemed to spread to the others. "Let's make this a good school year then." as he put his hand in the middle, then Namine followed, and Kairi.

Sora gave them a blank look seeing the three and their hands in the middle, he finally put his hand in the middle, and grinned. "Yeah, let's make best of it." he finally looked at Kairi. "I'm glad you're here Kairi."

Tears were starting to fall down, but she ignored them and hugged the brunette teen. "I am too…"

The two embraced each other, leaving Namine and Roxas do nothing but hold hands and smile at their happy ending.

_**I want to line the Pieces Up.**_

_**Yours and Mine.**_

_**Is it really the end? Yep, for this story. The sequel to this story will be called. "I'll Be With You No Matter What." except this story will be mainly based on Sora and Kairi instead of Namine and Roxas like this one. Whatever awaits the four for the school year I'm sure they can handle…right?**_

_A/N: I want to give a special thanks for all the reviewers: MistyRose14, Kazumi Kairi or Kairi-chan, KeytoDestiny, Namixas, ATOMIC ORANGE, Pokkin Choco, First Day High, Automatic Code Red 123, Mikoto-cat, Gogglelicious, Ramen and Chopsticks, xoxanonymusxox, aNGel-LigHTniNG, Nethernity, Anonymous-Sakura, SakuraDrops93, Somebody's Dreamer, sakura's conscience, Malcolm Yuy, KasperLassie, Doggone2dog, roxas-kh, Rozen, Massacre Maker, Takara-Hoshiko, SagaLight, Nami-Chan -LovesRoxas-, KHKairiNamineFanatic, Blubber Nuggets, rainbowcake, any annon. reviews, and anyone else who loves this story. Thank you._


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